Crypto Hacks Surge in 2024: $1.2Bn Stolen from Exchanges and Blockchains!

In 2024, cryptocurrency scams and hacks have reached alarming levels, with over $1.2 billion stolen from blockchain platforms and centralized exchanges. Research by Rekt Database reveals that phishing and control exploitation are the two main types of attacks, showing how hackers typically target and carry out these breaches.

Read more about this below.

Centralized Exchanges: The Prime Target?

As expected, centralized exchanges (CEXs) have been the primary targets. Though CEXs are not blockchains, they account for 50.13% of total losses, which equals $640 million. Since most exchanges use blockchain technology to verify transactions, they remain appealing targets for hackers looking for weaknesses.

This year’s biggest revealed hack occurred at Japan’s DMM Bitcoin exchange to which the hackers got away with $300 million. This attack believed to include private key theft or address spoofing, is one of the biggest in the history of the cryptocurrency market of 2024.

Ethereum: Popular, But Vulnerable!

Ethereum, known for its DeFi (decentralized finance) applications and numerous smart contracts, lost $228.6 million, or 17.91% of all stolen funds. Its popularity makes it a prime target, as hackers often exploit flaws in complex smart contracts.

Binance Smart Chain: Fast, Cheap, But Risky

Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which is fast, inexpensive, and widely used in the DeFi space, was also a key target. Hackers stole $89.85 million (7.04%). Despite its advantages, the decentralized applications (dApps) on BSC come with their own risks, making the platform attractive to cybercriminals.

Other Smaller Platforms and Emerging Networks Impacted

Combined, the other smaller blockchain platforms incurred $127.25 million or 9.97% in losses, pointing out that these fresh blockchain networks are far from being secure and protected mostly due to their relative infancy. 

Critically, Blast, which is a relatively young and rapidly developing blockchain, has reported $64.35 million in damages. Thanks to its high-speed work, the network has become actively used by spammers and other interested individuals as well as a great number of hackers and other malicious spirits.

High-Profile Attacks: Ripple and Wazirx

WazirX exchange of India lost $230 million because of exploited defects in the access control mechanisms. This break was similar to the attack on the DMM Bitcoin and highlighted the many vulnerabilities inherent in exchange-based systems.

Probably one of the worst attacks on a single person was the one aimed at former Ripple founder, Chris Larsen, who lost $112.5 million. The attackers got through the poor access control to perform this stunt, which suggests that no one, not even popular industry personalities, are immune.

Hackers Are Getting Smarter

The constant stream of hacks in 2024 shows that hackers are becoming more advanced. No blockchain, whether big or small, is safe. As seen with Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, improving security is now more critical than ever. As the cryptocurrency space grows, protecting users and networks will remain essential.

Staying secure will be the true challenge of the future!